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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

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Joe Rogan ((Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images), Kanye West ((MEGA/GC Images) and Elon Musk (Source: Facebook.)

Why this was a bad week in antisemitism

By Mira Fox, The ForwardPublished March 19, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Over the weekend, Ye, f.k.a. Kanye West, tweeted a Ku Klux Klan uniform and asked whether it matched better with Timberland...

New York Bagel Bakery in Philadelphia has served kosher-keeping customers for decades. Its longtime owner was recently accused of antisemitism, a charge he denies. (Screenshot from Google Maps)

A Palestinian man served kosher bagels for decades. Then customers found his Facebook profile.

Ben Sales, JTAPublished March 19, 2025

(JTA) — The tale sounded almost too heartwarming to be true: A kosher bagel store, just down the road from a few synagogues, was owned by an Arab American who had grown to be beloved by the local Jewish community. For decades, that was the story...

Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia who was arrested by ICE in March 2025, speaking to media. (Screenshot)

In jailhouse letter, Mahmoud Khalil urges renewed student pro-Palestinian protests

Ben Sales, JTAPublished March 19, 2025

Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian protester arrested at Columbia University nine days ago, wrote that he was a “political prisoner” in a letter sent from a Louisiana detention center. Khalil was arrested March 9 by ICE and has been threatened with...

AJC Rips Erdoğan for Saying Israel ‘Feeds on Blood of Innocents’

Canaan Lidor, JNS.orgPublished March 19, 2025

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for claiming that Israel "feeds on the blood of innocents." The remarks, made during a Ramadan dinner speech, have been denounced as dangerous antisemitic rhetoric....

Gal Gadot poses with her husband Jaron Varsano and daughters Alma, Ori, Maya and Daniella during the ceremony inaugurating Gadot's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, March 18, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Gal Gadot unveils star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming first Israeli actor honored there

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished March 19, 2025

Gal Gadot has made history as the first Israeli actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, Gadot reflected on her journey from Rosh Ha’ayin to international stardom, encouraging young women to pursue their dreams. The event,...

Freed Israeli hostages Aviva Siegel, Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, Yair Horn, Yocheved Lifshitz and Sasha Trufanov hold a protest calling for the end of the war and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, March 18, 2025.

Former hostages decry return to war as Netanyahu says further talks will happen only ‘under fire’

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished March 19, 2025

Former Israeli hostages are speaking out against Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza, warning that continued fighting puts those still in captivity at risk. At a protest in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, freed hostage Yarden Bibas condemned the...

A Palestinian walks past graffiti and the rubble of buildings, ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Israeli strike kills Islamic Jihad spokesman

JNS StaffPublished March 18, 2025

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Iranian terror subsidiary in the Gaza Strip, confirmed on Tuesday evening “with great pride and honor” that its spokesman Naji Abu Saif, known as “Abu Hamza,” was killed in Israeli strike that day. The terror group...

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israel vows to escalate strikes if Hamas refuses to release hostages

JNS StaffPublished March 18, 2025

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Tuesday that Hamas will face intensified military action unless it releases all remaining hostages. “The murderous Hamas needs to understand: If they do not release all our hostages, our blows will...

Smoke rises during Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Ceasefire ends as Israeli bombs strike Gaza

Ben Sales, JTAPublished March 17, 2025

(JTA) — Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza overnight, bringing an end to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire after two months. Israeli leaders announced that they ordered the strikes after Hamas would not agree to frameworks for a hostage deal proposed by Israeli...

US President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

US Justice Dept. launches ‘JTF 10-7’ to prosecute Oct. 7 terrorists

By Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished March 17, 2025

A U.S. Justice Department task force will seek redress for victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in the latest Trump administration move aimed at demonstrating support for Jews and Israelis. The task force, announced Monday by Attorney...

"October 8" documentary now playing in St. Louis, plays Jewish Film Festival in April

“October 8” documentary now playing in St. Louis, plays Jewish Film Festival in April

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished March 17, 2025

The documentary “October 8,” now playing in St. Louis, explores the surge of antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Directed by veteran filmmaker Wendy Sachs, a former "Dateline" producer, the film highlights how it has spread across...

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Jewish Democrat who is the majority leader, delivers a speech on antisemitism in the U.S. Capitol, Nov. 29, 2023.

Schumer book tour reportedly postponed for security concerns

JNS StaffPublished March 17, 2025

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has reportedly put a tour promoting his forthcoming book Antisemitism in America: A Warning on hold, “as the New York Democrat faces blowback over his recent vote to avert a government shutdown,” Jewish...

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